The adoption of photovoltaics for generating electricity from sunlight is largely driven by cost considerations. At present, photovoltaic systems are not competitive with fossil-fuel generated electricity. Thus, there is a need to reduce the overall photovoltaic system cost. This entails reducing the cost of photovoltaic modules as well as module assembly costs with enhanced functionality.
One way to reduce the cost of photovoltaic modules is to reduce the size of photovoltaic cells. In this aspect, small and thin photovoltaic cells have been developed that reduce photovoltaic material use dramatically. These thin photovoltaic cells are typically formed using microelectronic and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) techniques. Once formed, the cells may be assembled into photovoltaic modules. The miniaturized photovoltaic cells enable new photovoltaic module applications that traditional photovoltaic cells may not allow.
Traditional photovoltaic cells have been coated with antireflection coatings to minimize the reflectance of light incident on a cell surface. Accordingly, antireflection coatings are typically applied with an optical thickness to maximize absorption and conversion efficiency. As a result, traditional photovoltaic cells appear black or dark blue, due to the nearly complete absorption of incident light by the cells.